


A world torn Asunder

by TheCrimsonValley



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 08:59:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16037189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCrimsonValley/pseuds/TheCrimsonValley
Summary: While on a mission, Inquisitor Pyry goes missing and his companions start a race against time to find him, all the while struggling to keep themselves together.





	1. A world torn Asunder - Part I

The tapping of his feet seemed to echo through the woodlands, easily giving away his position. But this was no longer a hunt in silence, it was a chase and the inquisitor had grasped it with both his hands. In the distance he could hear the others, further behind. With his bow ready he had been the first one to dash after the pale creature as it had been spotted and by now his companions all knew of his capability. They had all been there at the slaying of the enormous threat to their world, taking down this thing was a little stroll by the sea in comparison.

Pyry felt his heart racing as his eyes tried to spot the escaped creature. The snowy landscape had made it hard to track the thing down, the local guards had had no luck and since it had become a pester to anyone daring to step outside the boarders of the close by town the little dwarf had sent out with his companions. It had more been on Bull’s accord than anything, it was clear that the qunari had been bored to death just sitting still at Skyhold. The inquisitor himself did not mind the travel and the feeling of doing something to help those in need was rewarding.

His mind twitched back as he caught sight of the creature, just a few meters away. Quickly he drew his arrow, letting it fly through the air and cursing as it pierced the tree that the pale being had been standing in front of. There came a loud screeching from it and then it once more took off. The dwarf gave chase.

His pulse was ringing in a steady rhythm in his ears, his ragged breath turning into smoke before him. His boots gave out a low sound every time it hit the snow covered grounds. Even though the white surrounding gave his prey a slight advantage there was an even bigger backlash. Now that he knew where it was, it could not hide, its prints in the snow standing out all too brightly to his trained eye.

With a rather agile jump over a few branches Pyry followed the trail left. There was no noise of steps anymore, no others than his very own. In one way it was as if he was alone in this wild land, though he knew that his company was not far behind. They never were. Yet he did not deny there were a tranquillity in the silence though it could so easily be replaced by fear.

The imprints of the creature lead him through some bushes covered with snow and, deciding to rather go quick than safe and around, the inquisitor pushed his way through them. For a moment he was left standing, catching his breath as he gazed around.

It was a dead end, a cliff side reviling a large drop down into the woodlands below. At first the dwarf found himself simply taken by the beautiful surrounding, the sun shimmering down at the enormous woods and making the snow glister under its touch, the sight of the frozen lakes, hills and cliffs.

His mind snapped back, alerting him to the fact that there was still a wild hunt going on and he was certain that the creature had not simply leapt to its own demise. Quickly the inquisitor spun around, trying to see where the prey might have rushed off too. Somewhere in the back of his skull the little voice that warned of danger told him that he could no longer hear any of his companions, neither their steps or any possible cries of his name.

For no longer than a second his heart seemed to sink slightly in his chest and his concentration swayed from sharp to worried. And that was all it took. The dwarf felt something come flying at him, heard the screeching right next to his face and he could feel his body tumbling to the ground as he desperately fought to keep the creature away from him.

The pale being that was struggling to bury its teeth into his neck bore some resemblance to that of a human, telling the inquisitor this was indeed some undead that was trying to drag him down with it. As his bow was by now useless, the inquisitor started fumbling around for his dagger, feeling how the struggle did nothing more than toss them around on the slippery ground.

As soon as the blade could be felt in his hand he threw it up, burying it deep into the creatures neck and drawing another of those screeches. For a slight moment Pyry was about to feel happy, to feel relived that he had survived another brush with death. And that’s when he felt the tug of the creature as it rolled off him. Shortly after the ground disappeared from underneath him.

The inquisitor thanked his reflexes rather than the maker as he flung out his hands, grasping on to some roots that had made their nest climbing onto the cliff side. He heard himself yelp, even though his mind could not comprehend that he was indeed uttering this noise. With his breath speeding up he dared glancing down. Beneath was a drop down into the woodlands, he could not even tell how far it would be. He deemed his chances of survival slim.

It took a moment before his brain managed to tell his body what sort of danger he was actually in and as the realization kicked in the dwarf tried pulling himself up, feeling how the snow covered wall offered no support at all, only hindering him and causing him to almost lose his grip completely.

His heart racing he turned to the only other option and with all his might he cried out the first two names that crossed his mind, calling for his kadan and his mage to come to his aid. There were other names to be called too but he found these two leaping to mind first, his frantic thoughts wishing for them to just magically appear and help him.

Over the beating of his own heart he could hear something in the distance, the rumbling of feet and after a few seconds, passing as if they were an eternity, there were voices calling out for him. By then the inquisitor felt his arms aching, the strength slowly fading from them. With panic in his voice the dwarf once more gave a shout, beckoning his companions to come closer.

“Kadan, hold on!”

Bull’s voice rang out clear, echoed between the cliff sides. It almost caused the dwarfs eyes to tear up, feeling how his fingers were about to give out under his own weight. The steps drew nearer, so close the rumbling could almost be felt through the very cliff side. Pyry’s thoughts were going frantic, his racing heart causing his mind to go clouded with the purest form of fear. Over and over a mantra seemed to form inside of his mind. He did not want to die.

Seconds passed, slowed down to an agonizing speed. As the inquisitor managed to glance up, his arms shaking, he caught sight of The Iron Bull, on his knees and with his arm stretched out, the big hand making a futile attempt to grasp his tiny lover. Somewhere behind him there was Dorian, shouts from the mages lips, encouraging sentences of how Pyry just needed to hold on a little longer.

Then his fingers gave out, drawing a cry from his own lips as he felt himself tumbling down the cliff side It soon was only a disoriented mess of the world spinning and his body making more than one impact with the ground. Above that there was screams, not only his own but familiar ones, belonging to those that meant the most to him. Even in this moment, in this certainty that his own doom had come, the inquisitor wished more than anything he could have reached out to grasp his loves and tell them that it was going to be fine.

He tried to reach his arms out, feebly attempting to grab on to anything that could hold him. Only for brief seconds did he manage, smaller roots, icy cold stones but nothing that would hold him for more than a split second before sending him crashing down once more.

His body came to an abrupt halt, his view completely disoriented by now. Coldness was seeping into him at a rapid speed, his clothes soaked. His body was aching, feeling as if it was drawing its last shaky breath. The inquisitor laid there for a moment, his eyes closed and his head resting towards cold snow covered stone. And for a while, everything went silent.


	2. A world torn Asunder - Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While on a mission, Inquisitor Pyry goes missing and his companions start a race against time to find him, all the while struggling to keep themselves together.

Time seemed to have frozen. After all his experience Dorian was fairly certain that it was fully possible and it felt as if someone was playing a cruel joke on him by pausing it right now. The mage could feel the icy wind around him, felt how his hair was starting to bother his eyes and yet he could not even muster up the strength to brush it out of his face. His entire being was frozen in place, his eyes still glancing towards the place where he could last see his tiny love.

Only one thought flew through his mind. He had lost him, this was the moment he dreaded every time they headed out like this, every time that any of his loves went away from his side on these damned adventures. And he cursed himself for it. For not insisting on the abandonment of this life style, for not pushing for them to just live a calm and safe life.

“Dorian!”

He blinked, snapping back into reality. He could feel the warm and all to familiar big hands of his qunari love and as he glanced up he could read worry written all over The Iron Bull’s face. Yet it seemed that his love was going to play the strong protector, as he so often did. The tevintern mage managed to move his muscles, raising his hand to his face and stroking away his dark hair from his eyes.

“Snap out of it!” the qunari continued “we got to move.”

“Move?”

He couldn’t believe that his own voice sounded so distant, as if he had been completely detached from this entire scene. As he tried to scan his own mind he did realize he could recall little of what had just happened. In one moment his love had been there, Bull had been just about to grab him and they would have hauled him up and later had a laugh about it. And then there was only emptiness.

“He’s down there, let’s go”

The words were not necessarily of hope, it was more a mix between panic and wishful thoughts. Yet the mage tried to snap back into his usual mindset. Tried to convince himself that this sentence indeed held some true ringing meaning to it.

“Yes, yes of course, let’s move.”

He spun around, watching as the qunari charged of from his side, moving past their other companions at an amazing speed for someone his size. Somewhere Dorian wished he had the strength at that moment to call out for Bull. His logic and his feelings were not on the same level, his common sense telling him this was not a moment to be clingy. Yet he wanted to hang on to the qunari warrior as if life depended on it, feel that at least one of his loves were there with him.

“Ser Dorian”

Cullen’s voice rung through to his mind and once more the mage glanced up. The templar had a more sympathetic look on his face and most certainly did not look as if he was about to rush of as well.

“I’m…”

The mage hesitated for a moment. He did not wish to utter the lines “I’m fine” because that were as far from the truth as anyone could go. Then again he did not take the commander for an idiot, of course the blond man must realize that no one could be okay in this situation.

“Let’s move” Dorian instead finished, his grip around his staff tightening slightly.

He was almost thankful the captain did not put up any resistance or asked questions. Perhaps the tevintern would be ready to answer any “how are you faring?” questions in due time but if they were uttered at that moment, he felt as if he would have boggled under the emotional stress and there was certainly no time for that.

The two men followed the trails of their other companions, the big bootprints from The Iron Bull marked clearly in the snow. It was a long walk through the cold woodland, slowly and steadily taking them further down, all of it being done in silence. Every now and then Dorian could make out the sight of Cassandra between the trees but there was no sight of the qunari. He went out on a limb, believing that his love must by now be by the base of this cliff.

As they reached the end of the path, just as the mage was about to head after the other two, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. His mind, having once more spaced off to all the terrible sights that might await him, came back and he turned towards Cullen with a mild expression of confusion.

“Ser Dorian” the blond spoke, pausing as if trying to find the right words “the Inquisitor… he’s… very strong, I have full faith that he will be found safe!”

Somewhere the tevintern did not know with what emotion to react. Of course there was the obvious rage over how he had watched his beloved fall down this steep cliff and that the most possible scenario was a very mangled body and a funeral but another part of him couldn’t help but to feel slightly amazed and comforted by the sincerity in the templar’s voice.

“Yes” he responded, deciding to allow himself some naivety “he did fight through hoards of darkspawns… this was certainly not his time to go.”

He caught a glimpse of a smile on Cullen’s face, neither of them uttering another word as they instead pressed forward. It did not take long before the mage could sight Bull and Cassandra between the trees and before he was even close enough to speak to either of them it became obvious that the qunari and the woman was having a rather heated argument.

“You would be insane to try and go in there now” the dark haired woman spoke, her arms crossed over her chest, telling that the enormous warrior before her did not impose any fright.

“We can’t sit on our asses doing nothing!”

“Which is why we need to get some help, this place looks like it could collapse if we take one wrong step!”

Dorian glanced at the commander, perhaps to see if there would be any voice of reason coming out of Cullen’s mouth but, quiet wisely, it seemed like the man would not engage in a feud between these two. Instead the tevintern man realized that responsibility fell on his own shoulders.

“Stop this nonsense” he said, moving in between the two in order to create some distance “we can’t be bothered bickering between ourselves at a time like this!”

“Well I’m getting my ass in there and finding him then!”

“Take two seconds to use that thing you call brain!” Cassandra snapped back, her eyes telling of a calm that seemed to be there almost constantly “does these mines look well used to you? You go about there throwing around that axe and we’ll have to dig you out!”

The mage was just quick enough to spin around, both his hands slamming down towards The Iron Bull’s chest in order to hold the qunari back, though it was rather futile. He was more than thankful to see Cullen join up, grabbing one of Bull’s arms with a little “easy now!”. Somewhere Dorian became more than convinced that his love would have caved Cassandra’s face in had it not been for him standing between the woman and the fist of the warrior.

“Look, we are all worried” Cullen then spoke, his voice ringing clearly “but she’s right, if we head in there without a proper search team we might get lost and stall everything.”

It took a little moment but with a grunt Bull pulled back and Dorian let his fingers slide of his loves chest. He glanced at the dark haired woman, being thankful that she did not seem about to throw about a smart remark. She was more cleaver than that.

“One of us heads back” the commander continued “gather up some of our scouts, gets us some proper equipment, the rest of us stay here, try to at least check the entrance of this place and how careful we need to be.”

“I’ll go”

Cassandra’s line was simple and she did not wait to let any of the others volunteer in her place. Somewhere the tevintern could not help but to wonder if she had not been cleaver enough to figure out that she and The Iron Bull needed some distance. Whatever it was that had prompted her to accept the position, he was thankful for it. The last thing they needed was a fight between themselves.

As there was nothing more to be done at the moment the three men stood around, shifting on their feet and glancing at the surrounding. Dorian took the time to gaze upon this entrance. Obviously an abandoned mine, by the look of it long forgotten. As his eyes glanced upwards he could see the peak of the cliff, the place his love had fallen from. His best guess was that there were an opening somewhere other than here. Didn’t seem to be any other possibilities.

He found himself shuddering as he glanced into the pitch black opening. He had been in many caves, too many to count but this one brought a strange fright to him. It was like he was glancing right into the abyss and in return that abyss was staring right back into him. And one thought kept haunting his mind. Somewhere in there was his love. And there was no way of knowing if their mission would be to find him alive or just retrieve a body.


	3. A world torn Asunder - Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While on a mission, Inquisitor Pyry goes missing and his companions start a race against time to find him, all the while struggling to keep themselves together.

Cold flakes melting towards his skin. An agonizing pain in his right side. The feeling that his entire body seemed to be on fire and in the same time his skin crawling with cold. For a moment it was all the inquisitor could feel, all his mind could comprehend. Then, all so slowly, his focus shifted back, beckoning him to open his eyes.

The first feeble attempt did not succeed, as soon as the dwarf even tried his brain seemed to be shocked at the mere proposition, sending out a painful signal throughout his head, causing him to give out a little grunt and quickly close his eyes once more. Instead of focusing on the vision he turned his attention towards movement, trying his best to at least wiggle his toes and fingers. Somewhere he were relived to find that both legs seemed to respond good.

Once more he forced himself to open his eyes, managing this time and in a painfully slow fashion his eyesight adjusted to the light. For a while there was only darkness but his vision slowly became more used to it, giving him a slight grasp of his environment. There were only cold stone walls surrounding him.

Despite his body telling him that he was aching too much to move the inquisitor forced it into movement, giving out a slight whining as he managed to get himself into a sitting position. His ribcage seemed to protest the most, giving out aching shoots of pain whenever he tried to force it into movement.

As he sat there, taking in the feeling of how actually cold he was, his thoughts started racing. The small glimpses of the drop came crashing into his mind without mercy and with them the panic. Though he felt relived to be alive after that drop, there was the realization that he was in a place that looked anything but safe. He quickly glanced up but there was only a tiny shine of light coming down upon him. One quick look towards the walls told that he would not be able to make the climb, he was almost certain that he couldn’t have done it in full health, even less now.

Bracing himself the inquisitor rose to his feet, standing still for a moment, feeling his body swaying slightly from side to side. He couldn’t just sit still. The clothes on his body were soaked and only brought a chill to his skin. If he dared to lay down again he was fairly certain that he would not get up again.

“You can do this Pyry” he mumbled to himself, perhaps not to give encouragement but more for the fact he needed to hear a voice.

On unstable feet he started the decent into the darkness, one hand on the wall to guide him. His mind was not so easily ticked by his attempts at naivety, he had fought more than one creature in this environments and by now the image of all of them came back to haunt him, telling that most certainly at least one group of them would inhabit this place and jump out in order to rip his throat. The dwarf did his best to ignore these forced thoughts but he could not deny that they rang true.

Every now and then he threw a glance over his shoulder, seeing the little opening with light growing smaller and smaller and in the end disappearing completely. By then it was only darkness and his own shaky breaths. Occasionally he would stop, gasp slightly and at times there would be an unwilling whimper leaving his lips.

As he stumbled on blindly he did take notice of a few cracks here and there, leaking in lights. None of them big enough to squeeze up to the surface from but still bringing him the comfort of his vision back. All they would revile however were another set of dark and damp mountain walls that surrounded him.

For a while he stumbled around, his body still rushing with the adrenalin kick of having survived the drop at all and with the forced naïve mindset that he certainly was going to find his way out really soon. It did not take too long for the realization to dawn on him that it was not the case. He had seen mine systems before and the insight that he was in one brought no comfort at all. The multiple levels he could reach, the various paths he could take. It was all just one gigantic death maze.

As his body started to tell him to just sit down and give in, there came a clearing. A bright light from above, high up over his head, to high to possibly climb. Still it was as if it had been sent by the heavens as it shed some much needed light onto the tiny dwarf and he took a moment to simply stand there, gazing up at the steel grey sky that still showered down cold snowflakes.

His mind were quick to tell him to not stall, to grasp the opportunity he had been handed. Quickly the inquisitor stumbled up to the few left crates and tables, starting a desperate ransacking of it, throwing away anything that had been claimed by time or were of no use at all to him. As his arms moved he could feel sharp pain going through them and a quick glance deduced that they were both covered with bruises. Yet it did not halt his frantic search, his need for survival battling out the pain.

As his fingers finally grasped what he had so desperately been looking for he felt his heart almost skipping a beat and with the same force some warriors held their blade Pyry grasped the torch that had been so neatly tucked away. A further search reviled tinder, the Dwarf had to almost hold back a pray to the maker from his lips as he could finally lit the torch up.

The warm golden glow flowing over the ground seemed to bring him confidence and a much needed warmth. Letting this influence his mind and bringing him some much needed strength, he moved back to the various cave paths. All of them looked similar but he was at least certain where he had come from. And his logic dictated that if there was several paths there were several entrances too.

“You can do this…” he once more mumbled to himself as he started the walk onto a new path.


	4. A world torn Asunder - IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While on a mission, Inquisitor Pyry goes missing and his companions start a race against time to find him, all the while struggling to keep themselves together.

It had taken more time than the mage had wanted. More than once he had had to grasp Bull’s arm, holding back his qunari love from descending too deep into the mines. All the while he had battled his own thoughts, trying to stay positive, trying to cling on to what little hope there were. Surely his tiny love had survived falls longer than that, more dangerous than that. All those battles must have hardened him somehow. Perhaps it was plain ignorance that refused to let any negative thoughts penetrate into his mind. Whatever it was it kept Dorian going.

After what felt like half an eternity Cassandra had returned. In tow she had some of the scouts that had rested in the tow and Cole. The blond youngster had at first seemed oblivious, as if the severeness of the situation had not yet been grasped by his mind. It had been more than hard to watch as the realization had come crashing down at the former spirit.

Despite the entire search party bouncing with emotions they had somehow managed to organize themselves, the scouts had brought torches and potions, preparing for anything that the cave could throw at them. It had been agonizing minutes as they had set up a little emergency camp and more than once the tevintern had thought that his qunari love would explode and simply storm away. He had to admire that The Iron Bull could keep himself under control, after all what was on the line was their beloved kadan.

As the signal had finally been given they had once more come together, him, Bull and Cole. Their little team once more united in an important mission. The only thing missing was of course their usual leader, the little red flame that would take the lead and encourage them to push on. Dorian could almost taste the bitter sweet nature of this mission.

He glanced around, his eyes focusing on the various shapes forming on the stone walls in the light of the torch. They had wandered in silence for now, having split up from the others. It was not their first mine, far from it but so far it filled the tevintern with so much dread that he had to hold back the reflex of wishing to just stop and puke.

Bull was keeping the lead, at least for now, his broad shoulder obscuring a lot of the view in front. The soft footsteps behind the mage told that Cole was keeping rather close, at least closer than he could remember that the former spirit had ever done before. At this time, he did not mind. Any presence were a comfort.

“Why can’t I feel him?”

Dorian paused for a moment, turning to gaze upon the blond youth with overwhelming sympathy in his yes. Cole was nervously playing with his fingers, the fringe obscuring his eyes and what little could have been seen was hidden beneath the shadow of his hat.

“It’s… just how it works” the mage answered, feeling his voice lacking his usual strength.

“If only I could feel him, I could help.”

“You can still help.”

A silence fell between the two but he did catch a glimpse of the former spirit gazing up at him, eyes looking for comfort. The tevintern forced a smile onto his lips, knowing all to well that was the response that would help the most.

“Let’s move, we’re not helping by standing around.”

Bull’s voice split their silence and once more grabbed their attention. In an almost synchronized manner Dorian and Cole both nodded as they followed in the qunari’s footsteps. They all seemed to prefer the silence, at least as they travelled. Yet it somewhere unnerved the mage to no extent. There were too many emotions being thrown about, the tension almost so thick he could have reached out and touched it. Did it really do them any good to simply try and suffocate it with silence? He did try and calm his mind with the thought that there would be a time and place for everything. The time for conversation was perhaps not now.

The tunnel split up into a bigger opening, still obscured in the thick darkness that seemed to lay as some sort of curse over this mine. In the faint light of the torches there were abandoned mining equipment to be seen along side rocks and broken crates. If there had been anything of value it had long since been stolen by bandits preying on these abandoned places.

“Have a look around, see if there’s any traces”

The Iron Bull’s orders sounded more monotone than anything Dorian had ever heard before and brought little to no comfort for his already worried mind. But he obeyed, seeing Cole do the same as they split up, searching the various corners of the room, scavenging this old forgotten area for any signs that their love may have passed through here.

It felt as if the tevintern was walking through a drugged haze, his eyes scanning the walls more than the floor and his feet moving on their own accord. Somewhere he did not want to believe any of this was real, he wished to wake up. Wake up in that oversized bed and roll over to find his two loves still deep asleep, sprawled out among the blankets and pillows. Yet he was past the time of imagining that if he wished for something hard enough it would happen. Reality would not bend to his will.

There were a rattling noise, causing his distracted thoughts to return to the present. He could feel how he had bumped into something on the ground and squinting slightly he brought the torch closer to the ground in order to make out what it was.

Sprawled out on the ground was the skeletal remains of what looked to once upon a time have been a dwarf. Time had since long taken any signs of just who this person could have been, perhaps it was even a worker once lost in these tunnels. For a moment Dorian found himself simply staring at his find, the grip on the torch tightening for every second.

Then his mind went completely blank, as if all barriers between his reasoning and his emotions had been destroyed, causing it all to collied with one another in a mess that his brain could not even comprehend. A shriek left his lips, so animalistic in nature that it frightened even himself. Letting go of the torch at once he stumbled away from his find, words simply leaving his mouth in incoherent sentences.

Without the nearby light he soon found himself colliding with a wall and with the howls still leaving his throat he started to mercilessly beat it with his bare hands, the thick stone soon cutting open his palms and knuckles. Yet there seemed to be no end to the fury and frenzy that had grabbed him and was by now holding his mind so tightly the mage was certain he was about to expire right there and then.

“Dorian!”

He felt how he was grabbed, quiet violently and with his mind still running rampage the mage did his best to physically assault whoever had the audacity to stop his emotional outburst. It proved rather futile as his wrists were grasped and held on to in a firm way, leaving the mage with nothing to do but to scream.

“Get a grip of yourself!”

Through his hazed mind the tevintern was able to distinguish Bull’s voice and, doing his best to steady his sight, he could see that it was indeed the qunari that had grabbed a hold of him.

“I can’t do this!”

It was the first understandable sentence he had managed to form and as it left his mouth he realized on what a broken note it was spoken. The realization did dawn on him that tears were streaming down his face by this point.

“I want him here, I want him here now!”

His frantic rambles continued, though growing less and less aggravated and in the end his strange mantra only came out on a cry broken voice. By this point all energy seemed to drain from him, even the will to stand on his own two feet was gone and he did not try to fight it as his legs seemed to give out under him.

Two strong arms were there to catch him and they dragged him into a familiar embrace, a warmth that his mind so desperately needed. He could feel his own fingers, trying their best to grab a hold of the qunari but the attempts were futile. Instead he was left standing, his head buried on the chest of his love and tears streaming down his cheeks. He could feel Iron Bull’s hand moving up and stroking through his hair, trying to bring some comfort.

“We can’t lose him… not like this”

The words left the mages lips and those were the only ones that were left in him. All the other things had already been pushed out in the frantic panic attack that had grasped him so tight he was certain it would have been his undoing.

“We won’t!”

Bull’s voice was confident, ringing more familiar and true than anything that had been spoken since they had been standing on that cliff glancing down. Dorian dared to look up a little at the qunari and he found those encouraging eyes that had been there through so many bad times.

“We’ll find him” The Iron Bull continued “do you understand?”

The tevintern managed to nod. He received a little sigh and a crooked smile along those fingers stroking over his hair once more. Then he was promptly lead over to some rocks that formed a rather good sitting place and he found himself not protesting as his love managed to get him down into a sitting position.

“Kid, wait here for a while with him.”

The lines were spoken over the mages head and even though he wished to protest against Bull going off on his own he knew he could not stall this search. He needed a moment and if that moment could be used by someone else to actually find their little dwarf then he would not fight against it.

He soon felt how he was joined on the rock by the blond youth, glancing at him with his pale eyes that seemed to overflow with sympathy. Dorian was not that certain if it was his vulnerable state of mind or if it was just the nature of the former spirit but within just a few seconds he found himself hanging on to Cole, his head buried towards his shoulder as he once more cried.


	5. A world torn Asunder - V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While on a mission, Inquisitor Pyry goes missing and his companions start a race against time to find him, all the while struggling to keep themselves together.

The night had been too restless. Too many thoughts at once, decisions dancing in a blurry tango before his closed eyelids. The only sound that had broken over the crackling of the fire and the occasional howling of a wolf had been the soft sobs that would emit from the tent where Dorian rested. The tevintern had been inconsolable since the entire operation had begun and by now none other than Cole or The Iron Bull seemed to bring the tevintern mage any comfort.

Cullen sighed as he sat up, fumbling for his coat. It was impossible to come to rest, even for a couple of hours. They had been at it for two days, the moral among the scouts had wagered greatly. It was clear that they were starting to wonder if this was even an search for a living being or if they would simply continue until there was a body to be buried. Any such small talk had been quickly silenced by Cassandra, the woman seemingly taking great offence at their belief that the inquisitor was indeed gone.

He had done his best in keeping up the moral of the troops but it was hard under the circumstances. The blow of not finding the dwarf the first day had hit the entire group hard and now as the third morning ticked in the commander was more than certain that talk would start spreading, no matter how he or Cassandra would try to kill it.

As he stepped out of his tent he took a quick look around. Most of the scouts were resting, having been on their feet almost the entire day. The dark sky above him told that the morning hours had yet to arrive. Still he could not go to sleep, his mind would not let him. It instead urged him inside of the mine once more, grabbing a torch to light his way.

The commander started the descent through the various corridors, ignoring the ones that had already been confirmed to lead to dead ends. There had been too many to count and somewhere he could understand why someone would abandon a place like this. The mountain obviously had nothing to give and the countless souls who must have gotten lost surely would present a problem.

With a sigh he dragged his hand over his face. His mind was trying to sidetrack itself from the important questions that were haunting it. Perhaps it was pride or shame that made him try to stay far away from them but there was no silencing the small voice in the back of his head. Before he had been able to qualm it but in this situation it had fully grasped his mind.

He did care deeply for the inquisitor, not only as a friend. In fact it was not only the little dwarf that made his stomach fill up with butterflies. It was him and his two loves, this little trio of people that would make the commanders heart leap in his chest every now and then. At first he had tried telling himself he simply enjoyed their company but as time had gone by, as drinks and dinners had been shared, he found himself slightly dreaming of the closeness of these individuals. In weak moments he had even wondered how it would be to simply find himself in their embrace and with their voices speaking on those kind tones they always used with one another.

Giving an angry grunt he shook his head. There was no time thinking about such things now. He needed to focus, needed to find their inquisitor, not for his own sake but for others. It tore his heart out to have to see Dorian with that glow slowly dying in his eyes. Of Bull he had barley seen anything, the qunari having been at it for longer hours than anyone else.

As his thoughts trailed over to the massive man the same individual became visible to Cullen. It did take him by surprise. Despite the countless hours that the qunari seemed to spend inside the mines he had somewhere deluded himself to believe that The Iron Bull would come back to the camp very late and leave very early. His mind told him that he might be wrong about this fact.

“Bull”

First there was no response from the massive man and somewhere the commander wondered if his call had even been heard. But then the qunari turned to gaze upon him. The first thing that struck Cullen was that this massive warrior looked terrible. His cheekbones seemed to have sunken in slightly and the eyes told of sleep deprivation. It was hard for him to realize that a man that would so easily give the impression of strength in its purest form looked as if he was about to fall over any minute.

“I’m sorry to impose but it seems you could use some rest” the blond man said, trying not to sound as exhausted as he felt.

“I’m fine”

It was as far from the truth as anyone could get and somewhere the templar wondered who Bull was trying to fool. He surely was not taking this statement as the truth and so he thought that perhaps the qunari was trying to delude himself.

“I can fill in your post, there’s no shame in taking a moment to…”

“I told you I’m fine!”

The reply echoed between the walls of the mine and the commander would have been lying if he denied that he took a step backwards. No matter how feeble the Iron Bull looked in appearance the strong voice was still there.

Silence fell for a moment between the two before the qunari gave an annoyed grunt before turning around and continuing his decent down the corridor. At first Cullen did consider the option to simply move away and leave the man some space. As he heard the mutterings uttered by Bull however he decided against it. There came lines of the nature of “he must be here somewhere” and “damn it Kadan where are you?”.

“Bull” Cullen once more spoke, seeing the massive man freezing in his motions once more “I speak to you as a confident and not a commander when I say I understand your worry.”

“You don’t understand shit!”

The words were filled with desperation that tried to transform into anger. Yet it was clear to the templars ear that what he was hearing was nothing more than the culminating emotions of the man before him and he forced himself not to flinch as The Iron Bull quickly moved up to him, standing right before him in his entire massive form.

“He’s in here somewhere, he’s hurt” the qunari spoke, his eyes locked onto Cullen “you can’t understand how it feels to be…”

Quickly Bull cut his sentence short, leaving only uncomfortable silence between the two. Yet the commander felt that he could fill in the line, as it was a thought that had crossed his mind more than once.

“Helpless” he therefore proclaimed, not taking his eyes of The Iron Bull “to be so helpless when someone you care for needs help, I assure you, I can relate to that.”

It was obvious to him that the qunari did not like this word. It was in fact quiet clear that he most certainly did not wish to be associated with the word “helpless” at all. Yet there didn’t seem to be enough energy inside of Bull to argue. Instead the massive colossus simply gave a sigh, not one of frustration but rather of genuine sadness.

For a moment the commander contemplated if it would be a wise decision to reach out. The worst outcome would be a huge fist towards his face. Yet that would not be anything new, he had trained with massive people before. Instead he decided to take his chance and put his hand softly onto the qunari’s shoulder.

There was confusion to be read in Iron Bull’s eyes at first but then it seemed like the façade was allowed to crumble, at least all so slightly because there was another sigh followed by a rather genuine crooked smile from the qunari’s lips. Cullen allowed himself to smile back, happy to let them establish a mutual understanding through silence. Sometimes words were unnecessary complications.

“Keep looking thoroughly” Bull then spoke “going to kick your templar ass if you dare getting sloppy”

“I assure you I would not be able to look at my own reflection if I allowed myself to get sloppy”


	6. A world torn Asunder - VI

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While on a mission, Inquisitor Pyry goes missing and his companions start a race against time to find him, all the while struggling to keep themselves together.

His breath was freezing into a cloud of smoke before his eyes. His toes felt like they were no longer existing and, as Cullen allowed himself a moment to stand still, he could feel that cold was riding his body. Yet he was stubborn, forced himself to be and he pushed on deeper into the mine path. Since there were no present sunlight he could not tell how long he had been at it but his mind told him he could push just a little further.

The path was so deep in that the distant sounds from the camp had died down completely, leaving the commander in a complete silence. It was not a soothing one, in fact it filled him with fright and dread. With only the feeble light of the torch to aid his vision, his mind had started playing tricks. For how could he know what delved in the darkness around him or what creatures may actually inhabit this place. Like a little child he had more than once jumped at his own shadow as it fell onto one of the cave walls in some grotesque manner. Every time a forced sigh of relief had left his lips as soon as his mind had comprehended what he was actually seeing.

His thoughts were lingering onto the inquisitor. He himself were decked in a heavy coat and had the luxury of returning to camp where he could get warmed up. The dwarf had for sure been dressed for the weather but the only thing the blond man could imagine was that the short man must be freezing. As the mental image of the red haired inquisitor quivering in these forsaken tunnels crossed his mind the templar felt his heart aching. In silence he promised himself not to let such a thought slip into his mind again.

As he stopped at a crossways, taking a deep breath and contemplating if he should turn back, there was a noise. It was so faint one could have mistaken it for the wind entering through the cracks of the mine. Yet the commander raised his torch, grasping it tightly. His senses were on full alert, trying to pin point if the noise would occur again.

There came a soft whining, too weak to be a cry or plea but by now the templar was at least certain that he had heard something. And his reflexes did not let him down as he started rushing, stopping every now and then just to make sure he could pin point the sound, making sure that it was growing louder for every turn he took.

As he left a sharp turn of the path behind him Cullen set his eyes on someone leaned against one of the walls. He abandoned all fear of demons or creatures mimicking living beings and instead rushed straight over towards the slumped figure.

His heart skipped a beat as he sank down on his knees, his fingers grasping the shoulder of the all too familiar figure. The inquisitor seemed to be more or less slipping away from consciousness but for a small moment the dwarf gazed up at the templar and there was a little smile on the red heads lips.

“C.. Cullen”

There were no other words leaving the man’s lips and the commander was quick to catch him as the inquisitor slumped forward all so slightly. The weight of his body told that what little part of the man had been clinging on to conciousness had now left.

The blond was quick to grasp the dwarf in his arms. It was quiet the feat to have to grasp a torch at the same time but he could not pay that less attention. Pyry felt like a lump of ice in his arms and, with a lot of trouble, the templar managed to get his coat off, wrapping the dwarf in it to keep him sheltered from the harsh climate. Though his skin screamed that he himself was under quiet the heavy pressure from the cold he could not care less for it.

On quick steps he started trailing back, begging the maker that it would not be too late. Every so often he would glance down at the dwarf, make sure that he was still breathing. The pale appearance of the inquisitor always stirred the commander to walk quicker.

It felt like an eternity before the noises from the camp could once more be heard and as Cullen could see the light from the opening of the cave system he abandoned the torch on the ground, grasping Pyry with both hands and rushing towards the camp site.

As he broke out of the cave the harsh wind hit towards him, making him stop just for a moment, allowing his mind just enough time to brace itself as he started approaching the camp. The templar first set his eyes onto Cassandra and the woman was the first one to realize what he was holding in his arms and it did not take too long before he could hear the orders being shouted out for the scouts to fetch a healer.

As Cullen reached her side his ears picked up on the noise of steps approaching quickly. Before he knew what to say or do he felt how the inquisitor was moved from his arms and he gazed as The Iron Bull was quick to hold the dwarf close, cradling him almost like a mother would do their child. By the qunari’s side Dorian was standing, desperately speaking to the unconscious inquisitor.

It did not take long for the entire camp to erupt into an organized form of chaos and the commander simply took a step back, watching it all unfold. His eyes never swayed from Pyry nor his loves who seemed to almost be shackled to him now that he had been found again. Despite the desire to interact with the rescued inquisitor the templar restrained himself. Somewhere he could do no more than to hope that he would be given the option soon enough.


End file.
